Baptism Photos/Memories
A few years ago I watched some baby videos of me and parts of it were of my baptism. It was cool to see my mom and my grandma, my godparents, and other family members there watching me be baptized. Of course I wouldn't be able to remember the whole baptism experience because I was one, but seeing myself be baptized felt a little bit like an out of body experience. Now when I'm writing this, I realize that this baptism has led me on a journey of discovering my faith. Now I have the opportunity to choose if I want to confirm my faith.
When working on this specific part of my project, I remembered seeing myself being baptized, but I wondered what else happened during my baptism. I asked my mom if she had any pictures that I could use, and she led me to my closet and pulled out a bin. The bin had some papers, a candle, and a little picture book looking thing. We got out each item and I was surprised to see that some of the stuff had to do with my baptism. I had never seen what was in this bin before. Or maybe I have and I just don't remember it. It was just sitting on the top shelf in my closet. Looking at the items made me feel a little bit sentimental. These items tell the beginning of my faith journey.
This candle looks different than any other candles that I've seen. When I was looking at it, there was a folded piece of paper that said, "For the Newly Baptised." I opened it and it said, "This candle is a gift from St. Paul's Episcopal Church. It was made by a member of the Altar Guild from candles that have been burned on the altar. It was burned during your service of Baptism and its presented to you now in the hope that you will light it in years to come on the anniversary of your Baptism as a reminder of this joyous occasion." I was in awe because I was holding a candle that was burned during my service of Baptism.
The other baptism item is a little picture frame book that has a picture of me and Father Bill and hand prints of my tiny hands. The date written on it is May 27, 2007. I was in shock looking at my tiny hands then and my hands now. My mom was awing at my baby hands. They were so small!
I asked my mom some more questions about my baptism. People present at the service were my mom, my grandma, my aunts and uncles and cousins, my godparents, out of town relatives, extended family, and friends, Also the people sitting in the pews during the service. My godparents are my mom's friends, Rebecca and Keith and my aunt Joan. I was baptized on May 27, 2007 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The priest that baptized me was Father Bill. My mom said her favorite part about my baptism service was when Father Bill was walking around the church with me. She felt so happy and proud.